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FNR3: Let's Get Rrrready To Rrrretail!


Boxing fans looking to re-enact Shane Mosley’s Saturday night beat down of formerly “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas were likely disappointed to learn (or at least be reminded) that Sugar Shane failed to make the Fight Night Round 3  roster after lacing up virtual leather in the two previous games. Then again, Vargas hasn’t shown his battered mug in any of the Fight Nights, leading one to wonder: just how badly does a man’s face have to get pummeled before the video game gods throw him a bone? (For those who didn’t shell out for the pay-per-view, Mosley won a hard-fought TKO that left Fernando looking like the Mexican Elephant Man).

Granted, create-a-boxer can go a long away in patient hands, as evidenced by this home-brew ear-chewer. Sure, the financially shady nature of the sport makes licensing difficult and numerous omissions inevitable.  Mosley could be missing due to his own greed and fading marquee. That said, when an otherwise quality  title’s “coolest” unlockable is a…Burger King ad, every unrendered tomato-can grates on the nerves. Hey EA, Don King belongs in a boxing game. The Burger King does not. Oh, and if you suddenly felt the urge to “Grab Life By The Horns” while pitting Hagler against Hearns, credit the smooth 30 DLPS (That’s Dodge Logos Per Second) for delivering a subliminal knock-out.

I understand the economics at play here. Maybe we could have had George Foreman if they stuck a Meineke muffler up his ass to off-set costs. But boxing is one of my favorite sports and Fight Night Round 3 is thus far my favorite 360 game. Here’s to the irrational dream that  the next $60 installment includes more pugilists and less plastic-head product placements.

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1. There's no way I'm spending $60 (let alone $50) for what's basically an advertisement for Burger King and Dodge.

I played the demo and I loved it. But I'm taking a stance by not buying the game.

Posted at 3:25PM on Feb 27th 2006 by BklynKid 0 stars

2. I dont care about ads in games really, but I do care about tempo of boxing games. The demo of FNR3, while absolutely beautiful, did not feel like a boxing game... it felt sleepy and slow to me, even at the first bell when tempo should be up, it was like the blokes were sleepwalking.

Posted at 3:39PM on Feb 27th 2006 by modeps 0 stars

3. I agree... how the hell can they justify $60 a game when it contains lazer guided, demographically "perfect" ads within...

Even worse than this (to me) is NBA 2K6... when they do that PowerBar triple threat graphic that you can't...shut...off... Makes me sooo angry!

Posted at 3:41PM on Feb 27th 2006 by Frogbrother 0 stars

4. Now, normally i would be upset with product placement in a game, but i personally feel that it is very appropriate in this case. As not only a fight night fan, but a fan of boxing in general, i know that advertisement plays a huge role in the sport. I mean, boxers go so far as to having the advertisement written on their own bodies (ie golden palace) so that there is no chance that viewers will miss it. The pp in fnr3 really isnt that bad, i mean they are pretty much limited to fight sponsorships and corner pads. To anyone who watches professional sports, next time a replay takes place or rosters are shown, pay attention, i promise you will quickly see that these events will be "sponsored" by someone.

Posted at 3:41PM on Feb 27th 2006 by Ryan 0 stars

5. Good luck getting your hands on FNR3. I tried 8 different stores in the eastside of Seattle and everyone was out of stock. Ended up ordering online. Now I gotta WAIT for it :-(

Posted at 4:15PM on Feb 27th 2006 by jc 0 stars

6. Number 2 Mr modeps - I agree with you so much... I felt the game was so slow it was stupid. I hoped that was something that the demo alone had, and would not come to the finally product... but it did, and that was worst then the sticker shock of having to pay 65 dollars (after tax) for the dam game.
They really need to think about that price point because if thats how they plan on pricing all their 360 games then I will go back to renting first.

If I rented fight night round 3 first I would have never bought it. - just too dam slow for a next Gen game. come on' - and what the hell's up with the loading times - this is next Gen right?

Posted at 4:56PM on Feb 27th 2006 by Crazyglues 1 star

7. I think the ads in this game can be kinda annoying, but in real life boxers can where advertisments on their skin... so ads are already very prevelent in the sport. I really enjoy this game and wouldn't think of not playing it just because of some ads for the Dodge Caliber.

Posted at 6:22PM on Feb 27th 2006 by KillerGreen 0 stars

8. Hasn't the popular debate always been whenever ads are appropriate to a game's subject matter? I know that's how I've always looked at it. I have yet to play FNR3 however so I can't say how bad it is. Judging from responses, the ads must be really in your face and blatant?

Posted at 7:20PM on Feb 27th 2006 by refinedsugar 7 stars

9. I think the only one that is terribly blatant is the Burger King guy as your promoter/trainer. When they announce the fighter, the Burger King guy gets out and jumps around the ring with you.

Its actually sort of funny the first time, given all the Burger King guy ads on TV. Even so, they're making money off the excessive advertising--you'd think the least they could do is pass on some of the savings to us. $60 is silly for video games--its even more silly for video games with ads.

Posted at 8:50PM on Feb 27th 2006 by MarvinK 0 stars

10. I found the adverts so annoying that i had to turn off all speech. unfortunately this also means i cant hear the intros or any between round comments, but they usually suck anyway.

BTW- since when is it realistic for amateur fights to be sponsored by dodge or BK?

Cheers!

Posted at 9:25PM on Feb 27th 2006 by Deth 0 stars

11. Sooner or later it will reach the breaking point as more and more games have it. Companies are seriously looking at it as a profit concept. EA in particular seems to be really pushing it hard.

Recapping the past months, we've had horror stories about the ads in Enter The Matrix, Swat 4 and a short term subway CS teamup. Yet through all of this there hasn't been any talk of how this is going to be a win-win for both sides... like perhaps giving consumers a break at the cash register.

Let's see I shell out 70+ Canadian dollars for FNR3 and then I get to have the King as my manager. WTF? Whatever happened to Have It Your Way� ?

Posted at 10:04PM on Feb 27th 2006 by refinedsugar 7 stars

12. Heres a post on the subject from xbox-scene.com

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=492180

I too found the advertising way over the top in FN3. There are fights where a 3D modeled Dodge is sitting directly behind the ring. I agree with the author of the post and will do a little self imposed boycott of both..and EA for that matter.

Posted at 10:44PM on Feb 27th 2006 by Stuart 0 stars

13. @10, Deth

Forget advertising for a sec, FN has never been this side of realism. FNR2 had you dancing your way to the ring, music pumping with fireworks going off while your female entourage boobs bounced up and down for a professional fight being waged inside a rundown crackhouse gym. Forget how you came down in an elevator or that there was eight people in the entire place and the fight was only worth $400.

Posted at 3:06AM on Feb 28th 2006 by refinedsugar 7 stars

14. I think that product placement in ads should be done in moderation. They can actually ad to the realism in the game, but obviously if they are overbearing they can be quite annoying. I think the ads in FN3 and NBA 2K6 are still in the realm of moderation, face it, sports have ads in them all the time (especially NASCAR). I think a good example of ads gone too far is Need For Speed Underground 1 and 2. FN doesn't bother me.

Posted at 8:40AM on Feb 28th 2006 by AK 0 stars

15. IMO it is unacceptable to pay $60 for what is basically a reskinned, minorly updated FNR2 loaded with product placement and ads.

The animations are only slightly different, adding different styles, but the same graphical errors (twitching, unnatural movements, clipping) are out in force, and the blood effect is actually worse. There are issues with the controls, and after using them, the flash KO and Stun Punches are stupid.

The more I play FNR3, the more dissapointed I become, and the more product placement I hear, the more disgusted I become for paying $60. It's a shame, because it is a good game, and the franchise has tremendous potential, but it seems EA is more concerned about lining their pockets than producing a quality game.

Posted at 10:23AM on Feb 28th 2006 by Joel 0 stars

16. I see a lot of comments saying the EA should lower the price if it's also getting advertising revenue. I agree, but I don't think it's going to happen, especially with a company like EA.

If they can reduce their costs with Ads AND charge $60 US, they will. As long as people pay, companies will charge.

The Halo 2 special edition, for example, was basically an experiment to see if people would pay more for the same game. I did. Thousands of people did. Now that the market has been tested, companies feel free to follow suit and raise prices.

Prices will come down if people are buying less, and that's the only way. "Passing the savings on to the consumer" is a myth.

Posted at 10:52AM on Mar 1st 2006 by Sense 5 stars

17. Too true what you said about Special Editions, Sense. The movie dvd market did it and now games are doing it.

Posted at 1:44PM on Mar 1st 2006 by refinedsugar 7 stars

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